Friday, December 31, 2010

Blameless or Sanctified?

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Blamelessness, I believe, is when our heart is pure, our motives are pure. There may be blind spots in our lives that God doesn't hold us responsible for, and He holds us blameless as we are "living up to the light that we have".

Sanctification on the other hand, is God's work to bring us into greater light. Even though we may be blameless, our sins of ignorance can have hurtful effects on ourselves and others.

God's desire is to bring greater understanding, and as we respond through repentance and faith, then we become more sanctified.

"He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it." This is the rub. God is ever concerned with our sanctification, and is willing to allow any and all circumstances to come our way to expose those areas that are still hidden and hurtful.

Do we sometimes go around the same mountain for forty years? Is it because God is relentlessly pursuing our sanctification, and we may be resisting?

While His sanctifying work is not usually enjoyable, His desire is to bring us to a place of greater fullness and life. Thus He is committed to our sanctification.

For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance. Psalm 66:10-12


(copied from www.davidsouthwick.net)

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Friday, December 24, 2010

An Integral Part of Saving People

Somehow in the great scheme of salvation, it became necessary for the Infinite to become finite, subjected to and raised by those who knew less than Him. The Almighty God became vulnerable, weak, dependent, and helpless, as an integral part of his plan to save people from their sin. He came from heaven, and became a child.

Then during His ministry, Jesus made an astounding statement to those who would be saved:

"Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus became a little child. We can only become LIKE a little child. And we must. We must become vulnerable, weak, dependent, and helpless. We must be teachable toward people who know less than us. We must become vulnerable to those who could hurt us. Without doing this, Jesus says, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

(copied from www.davidsouthwick.net.)

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Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Servant of All

Reflecting upon the principle Jesus shared about people who want to be great in God's kingdom, I realized something a little ... uncomfortable. I realize there are some people I don't mind serving. There are others whom I would prefer not to serve. Jesus clearly saw that sometimes we wouldn't mind serving 'important' people. In fact we might readily volunteer to help them. With others, it may be more of a struggle. But Jesus was clear, we must become servants of all. This (and nothing else, I suppose) is greatness in God's kingdom.

(copied from www.davidsouthwick.net)
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